McDonnell reverses bottled-water ban

By
Mike McPhate

This post has been updated.

Gov. Bob McDonnell's decision to reverse his predecessor's ban on the state's purchase of individual-sized bottled water is coming under fire from those who claim that he might have made the decision at the request of his friends in the industry, the Virginia Politics blog reports.

Former Republican delegate Chris Saxman, board member of the International Bottled Water Association and employee of Shenandoah Valley Water Co., a major water bottler in Virginia, has served as an education adviser to McDonnell.

Corporate Accountability International, a Boston-based nonprofit organization which promotes strong public water systems, among other issues, alleges that Saxman's company is the single largest recipient of state money spent on bottled water, including more than $101,000 in fiscal 2009.

But Saxman said Tuesday that his company primarily sells five-gallon containers of water, not individual water bottles. He also said that he did not speak to McDonnell or anyone in his administration about the decision.

Gov. Bob McDonnell has reversed his predecessor's ban on state agencies' and institutions' purchase of individual-sized plastic water bottles.

Then-Gov. Timothy Kaine issued the directive that the state shouldn't buy plastic-bottled water, unless there's an emergency or health reason, as part of an overall government resource-conservation plan. Plastic water bottles are a major source of waste worldwide, and their continued use has been criticized as adding to overall pollution.

But McDonnell scrubbed Kaine's plastic-water-bottle ban, which he said would hurt state bottled-water manufacturers. He did carry over many elements from Kaine's plan, including asking state employees to recycle, turn off lights, and employ carpooling.

Raise your hand if you're surprised. So much for a better future for our children and grandchildren. Let's just leave them a cesspool and garbage dump to live in. It's all about the dollar with the GOP. What's in MY pocket NOW......

Is there anyway to stamp each bottle with McDonnells name, so a thousand years from now if there are still any humans left living in Virginia they can curse his name and call him a short sighted moron too?

get a grip people. he lifted a ban that only affects the way the state buys water. this is not the general public we're talking about. so save the drama of millions of plastic bottles littering the earth because of this. the state of va has recycling bins all over the place. employees are still encouraged to recycle. this change in policy isn't earth shattering.

It may only represent a small % of bottles sold, but it was a principled position that would make patrons of state-sponsored events think about their own bottle use. The pollution extends beyond water bottles in landfills; producing the bottles for American consumption required the equivalent of more than 17 million barrels of oil, not including the energy for transportation

According to the U.S. EPA, bottled water makes up 1/3 of one percent of waste stream. That's a tiny sliver of all the packaging tossed out. Why single-out the healthiest packaged beverage you can drink? Why do people feel bottled water threatened tap water? It's solely for hydration. I hate the taste and smell of chlorine -- always have. I recycle my empty water bottles, and mayonaise jars and everything else made of #1 plastic. There's no reason to waste the public's time and attention on something as inherently good as bottled water. Enviros lose so much credibility when they spin their wheels knocking recyclable bottled water containers. Push recycling and stop the literally stupid chatter about the right and wrong way to drink water.

For those who think waste is no big deal, at a conservative flow rate of 35,000 barrels a day, over the past 84 days the Macondo spill has pumped about 2,940,000 barrels of oil into the Gulf. Quibble with that number if you like. But if it is close to accurate, we utilize about 6 Macondo's worth of oil (as of 7/13) just to carry water around in clear plastic bottles. It's available at the tap. Open a refillable container, add water, hydrate.

If the Va Gov doesn't wantr the state to spend money on plastic bottles that's he right. The only exception I would like to see is for firemen. If a fireman is fighting a fire in this heat I see nothing wrong with him/her getting a bottle of water WHILE fighting the fire.

It was McDonnell himself who has said he has over turned the ban because he thinks it hurts state water bottlers. So why the surprize that he is friends with state water bottlers and this is just a favor to his friends?